The Animal Feed (Scotland) Regulations 2010

Animal feed legislation is a harmonised area in the European Union (EU). It includes provisions on the marketing and use of feedingstuffs, which cover labelling declarations such as the ingredients used; analytical declarations for protein, fibre, ash, etc.; the name and address of the business; the batch number and shelf-life of the feed product; and certain allowable claims. EU feed legislation also specifies the maximum permitted levels of certain undesirable substances – chiefly naturally occurring environmental contaminants the presence of which cannot be wholly avoided -- and lays down a list of prohibited ingredients which must never be used in feed. This legislation applies principally to feed for farmed livestock, but also covers feed for pet animals, horses, farmed and ornamental fish, and zoo and circus animals.

These requirements are currently set out in a number of separate Directives, which have been transposed into law in Scotland by the Feeding Stuffs (Scotland) Regulations 2005 (as amended). These Directives have now been revoked and replaced by European Parliament and Council Regulation 767/2009/EC of 13 July 2009 on the placing on the market and the use of feed, which applies in EU member states from 1 September 2010.

Many of the provisions of EC Regulation 767/2009 are identical or very similar to those in the five Directives that it replaces, although the Regulation also introduces a number of changes, some more significant than others. The most important change is the repeal of the existing requirement for the mandatory percentage ingredient declaration for compound feed, which it is anticipated will save the UK feed industry around £44 million a year. Other changes include a new requirement for full labelling feed additives, and the removal of an existing derogation for the labelling of feed materials with a moisture content of more than 50% ("moist feeds"). Full details of the Regulation's provisions are given in section 3 of the Impact Assessment. Sections 5 and 6 of the Regulatory Impact Assessment set out its potential benefits and costs. However, the potential impact of the EC Regulation on enforcement authorities is not expected to be significant, since (other than the changes summarised above) the majority of existing feed labelling requirements are carried forward unchanged.

EC Regulations apply directly in member states, it is therefore necessary to revoke those provisions in national legislation which either repeat, conflict or overlap with the provisions of the EC Regulation. However, the nature of the amendments which would need to be made to the Feeding Stuffs (Scotland) Regulations 2005 (as amended) in order to achieve this would be so extensive that it has instead been decided to repeal the existing legislation in its entirety and to make a new set of Regulations – the Animal Feed (Scotland) Regulations 2010. The key features of the new Statutory Instrument are set out in the following box.

The Animal Feed (Scotland) Regulations 2010 will:

• provide for the enforcement of certain provisions of EC Regulation 767/2009/EC
• designate competent authorities for the enforcement of the selected provisions
• re-enact those provisions of the Feeding Stuffs (Scotland) Regulations 2005 (as amended), such as those which enforce EU rules on feed additives, which do not repeat, conflict or overlap with the provisions of EC Regulation 767/2009
• make the references to the lists of categories of feed materials for non-food producing animals, MPLs for undesirable substances and products for particular nutritional purposes ambulatory
• increase the penalties for breaches of the Regulations
• make consequential amendments to primary legislation (the Agriculture Act 1970) to disapply its provisions where they repeat, conflict or overlap with the provisions of EC Regulation 767/2009.

Responses are required by close Monday 21 June 2010. Please state, in your response, whether you are responding as a private individual or on behalf of an organisation/company (including details of any stakeholders your organisation represents).

This consultation has been prepared in accordance with the HM Government Code of Practice on Consultation, which states that a consultation must follow better regulation best practice, including carrying out an Impact Assessment (Regulatory Impact Assessment in Scotland). The assessment is included in the consultation documents.

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Consultation feedback questionnaire (pdf)

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